Bellver Castle, Palma, Majorca / Mallorca, Spain - 1930 postcard stamp to USA

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Bellver Castle - in Palma, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
• Publisher:  none given
• Postally used:  yes
• Stamp:  Spain 15c blue (probably SG380)
• Postmark(s):  Vapor July 1930 cds
• Sent to:  Mrs. N. A. Dawson, Frankfort, Michigin, USA
• Notes / condition: 

Please ask if you need any other information and I will do the best I can to answer.

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Postage & Packing:

UK (incl. IOM, CI & BFPO): 99p

Europe: £1.60

Rest of world (inc. USA etc): £2.75

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

UK - PayPal, Cheque (from UK bank) or postal order

Outside UK: PayPal ONLY (unless otherwise stated) please.   NO non-UK currency checks or money orders (sorry).

NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Bellver Castle^[1] (Catalan: Castell de Bellver) is a Gothic style castle on a hill 3 km northwest of Palma on the Island of Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. It was built in the 14th century for King James II of Majorca, and is one of the few circular castles in Europe.^[2] Long used as a military prison throughout the 18th to mid-20th century, it is now under civilian control, being one of the main tourist attractions of the island, as well as the seat for the city's History Museum.

The castle's plan, circular floor with circular towers attached to it seems to have been inspired by the upper complex of the Herodion in the West Bank, which is also circular and has as well a large principal tower and three minor towers. The minor towers are attached while the principal one is coupled to the complex by a high bridge over the surrounding moat.

The main part of the fortification was built by architect Pere Salvà , who also worked in the construction of the Royal Palace of La Almudaina, together with other master masons between 1300 and 1311 for king James II of Aragon and Majorca. Rock from the hill where the castle sits was used for the building, which has eventually led to the appareance of cracks.

Once the castle had been built, and following the introduction of artillery, the battlements on the top balconies and the barbican disappeared, being soon followed by those in every tower, and loopholes were built instead.

The castle originally served as a residence for the Kings of Mallorca whenever they were not staying at mainland Europe, and was seldom used as a residence again for viceroys during the 17th century. As a fortification, it suffered and successfully resisted two sieges during the Middle Ages, the first of them in 1343, during Peter IV of Aragon's campaign to reincorporate the Majorcan territories to the Crown of Aragon, and then again in 1391 during an anti-semitic peasant revolt. The castle has only fallen once into enemy hands in its history, in 1521 after an assault during the Majorcan seconds Revolt of the Brotherhoods.

The castle was usually governed by a Lord Warden. In 1408, King Martin I of Aragon gave the lordship of Bellver to the Charterhouse of Jesus of Nazareth in Valldemossa. Charles of Viana arrived in 1459 to take possession of both the island and the castle, as he had agreed with his father King John II of Aragon, even though finally the king granted not the lordship nor the Bellver Castle.

Being an enclosed site, since the end of the 14th century it was used as a prison, firstly to lock queen Violant of Mallorca,^{[clarification needed]} her children James and Isabella and other supporters of King James III of Mallorca after his death in the Battle of Llucmajor in 1349. During the War of Spanish Succession it was used to imprison first supporters of Phillippe d'Anjou, and after the Bourbon victory, Maulets (supporters of the Habsburg pretender). During the Spanish Independence War it was used to hold several prisoners captured at the battle of Bailén and later, political prisoners, the most famous of these being the minister Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1802–1808) who first made a description of the castle and commissioned the first blueprints and drawings of it. The prison served from then on as a political prison, used to lock up several important supporters of the subsequent Habsburg pretendants to the Spanish Throne during the 19th century, and later notable republican and Catalanist leaders during the 20th century, including Alexandre Jaume, Member of the Parliament who first won the castle for the city, and Emili Darder, who was the mayor of the city, both fusilated later.

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: rest of the world

sub-theme=europe

county/ country=spain

number of items=single

period=inter-war (1918 - 1939)

postage condition=posted